Republican lawmakers who want to pass a bill to change the way the state’s Congressional map is drawn are continuing to negotiate behind closed doors with opponents of their plan to come up with a compromise.

Sponsors of the lawmakers’ Congressional redistricting reform want to get buy in from Democrats and some citizens’ groups. Secretary of State Jon Husted, who has suggested the plan involve a bipartisan process and keep counties intact, says he’s cautiously optimistic that there will be a resolution because the parties agree, in principle.

“They can’t trust each other…..there’s a trust deficit in these negotiation right now. Everybody wants to add a few more words, a few more things that they view as guardrails on that process that creates uncertainty and distrust among each other.”

Lawmakers need to pass it before the February 7th filing deadline for the May ballot. The citizens’ groups say they’ll continue to collecting signatures to put that issue on the November ballot if a compromise can’t be reached. Copyright 2018 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.